Genesis 34:16
Ver. 16. Then will we give our daughters unto you,.... Meaning Dinah, whom they call their daughter, Ge 34:17; because she was the daughter of their family, and because they were entreating in the name of their father, and in conformity to the language used by those they were treating with, Ge 34:9;and we will take your daughters to us; in marriage for wives:and we will dwell with you; not as sojourners but as fellow citizens:and we will become one people; being so nearly related by marriage, and professing one religion, alike submitting to circumcision, which was the distinguished badge of Abraham's seed. Genesis 34:17Ver. 17. But if ye will not hearken to us to be circumcised,.... Will not agree to this condition, circumcision:then will we take our daughter; by force, as the Targum of Jonathan adds:and we will be gone: depart from this part of the country, and go elsewhere. Genesis 34:18Ver. 18. And their words pleased Hamor, and Shechem Hamor's son. The condition proposed was acceptable to them both, and they agreed to comply with it; Hamor, because of the great love he had for his son; Shechem, because of the great love he had for Dinah. Genesis 34:19Ver. 19. And the young man deferred not to do the thing,.... To be circumcised himself, and to get all the males of the city circumcised; he delayed not a moment, but made all the haste he could to get it accomplished:because he had delight in Jacob's daughter; he really loved her, and delighted in her person and company: it was not the effect of a brutish lust, but a true affection he bore to her, that he desired her in marriage:and he [was] more honourable than all the house of his father; for though he had done a base thing in defiling Jacob's daughter, yet in this he was honourable, that he sought to marry her, and to do any thing that was in his power to recompence the injury; and he was honourable in keeping covenant and compact with men; and was honest, upright, and sincere, to fulfil the condition imposed on him, and he had agreed to, as well as he was in greater esteem among the citizens than any of his father's house, which made it the more easy to him to get their consent to be circumcised; they having a very high and honourable opinion of him, and ready to oblige him in anything they could. Genesis 34:20Ver. 20. And Hamor and Shechem his son went unto the gate of their city,.... Where courts of judicature were held, and all public affairs respecting the common interest of the city were transacted: here, no doubt, Hamor their prince summoned them to come, by the usual method in which the citizens were convened on certain occasions:and communed with the men of their city; upon the subject of entering into an alliance with Jacob's family, of admitting them to be fellow citizens with them, and of their being incorporated among them, and becoming one people with them, taking no notice of the true reason of this motion:saying, as follows. Genesis 34:21Ver. 21. These men [are] peaceable with us,.... Meaning Jacob and his sons, pointing to their tents which were near their city; and no doubt more was said than is here expressed, and that these words were introduced with a preface, in which notice was taken of Jacob and his family, and their names mentioned, as here their character is given; that they were men of peaceable dispositions, harmless and inoffensive, as appeared they had been ever since they came into these parts; and there was a great deal of reason to believe they still would be, and which was an argument in their favour, to admit them to a residence among them:therefore let them dwell in the land, and trade therein; give them leave to dwell where they please, and carry on what trade and traffic in the land they think fit; since they are not likely to be quarrelsome and troublesome, but will deal honestly and honourably, and pay duly for what they agree for or merchandise in:for the land, behold, [it is] large enough for them; there is room enough for them to dwell in, and pasturage enough for their cattle, and land enough to manure and till, without in the least incommoding the inhabitants: yea, it is likely to be to their advantage, since they would pay for what they should purchase or hire, and would improve the land which lay uncultivated:let us take their daughters to us for wives, and let us give them our daughters; this was the thing principally aimed at; and the rest, both what goes before, and what follows after, were in order to this. Genesis 34:22Ver. 22. Only herein will the men consent unto us,.... The only term or condition insisted upon, to come into an alliance and affinity with us, andfor to dwell with us, to be one people, to become one body politic, is the following one:if every male among us be circumcised, as they [are] circumcised; submitting to this rite, they agree to take up their residence with us, and be incorporated among us, and become one people. Genesis 34:23Ver. 23. Shall not their cattle, and their substance, and every beast of theirs, [be] ours?.... Which would in course come into their families in process of time, by intermarrying with them, or, being more numerous and powerful than they, could seize upon them when they pleased, and take all they had: thus they argue from the profit and advantage that would accrue to them by admitting them among them, upon their terms; and this argument, taken from worldly interest, they knew would have great influence upon them:only let us consent unto them; in the affair of circumcision:and they will dwell with us; and what by trading with them, and marrying among them, all their wealth and riches will come into our hands. Genesis 34:24Ver. 24. And unto Hamor and unto Shechem his son hearkened all that went out of the gate of his city,.... That is, all the inhabitants of the city who came to the gate of it, upon the summons given them, and departed from thence to their habitations, having a great opinion of their prince and his son; and moved either with awe of them or love to them, and influenced both by their arguments and example, they agreed to what was proposed to them:and every male was circumcised, all that went out of the gate of his city; all the men citizens; and not only the adult, and who now went out by the gate of the city, but all their male children likewise were circumcised. Genesis 34:25Ver. 25. And it came to pass on the third day, when they were sore,.... Or in "pain" {k}, when their pains were strong upon them, as the Targum of Onkelos; or when they were weak through the pain of circumcision, as the Targum of Jonathan; for it seems that the pain of circumcision was more intense on the third day {l}, and the part the more inflamed, and the person more feverish, and which is observed by physicians of other wounds; and therefore Hippocrates {m} advised not to meddle with wounds on the third or fourth days, or do anything that might irritate them, for on those days they were apt to rankle or be inflamed, and bring on fevers; and in this case, not only the wound was sore in itself and distressing, but being in such a part of the body, motion must give great uneasiness: nor could persons in such circumstances easily arise and walk, and go forth to defend themselves; and of this Jacob's sons availed themselves: sothat two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren; by the mother's side as well as the father's, being Leah's children, and so most provoked at this indignity and abuse of their sister:took each man his sword, and came upon the city boldly; not fearing the inhabitants of it, and their rising up against them to defend themselves, knowing in what circumstances they were: or "upon the city that dwelt securely"; as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan; for the men of the city had no suspicion of any such attempt that would be made upon them, and therefore were quite easy and secure, not expecting nor fearing anything of this kind:and slew all the males; the males that were grown up, for the little ones are after said to be carried captive, Ge 34:29; Josephus {n} takes no notice of this circumstance of their being circumcised, but represents them as surprised in the night of their festival, overcharged with feasting, and their watch asleep, who were first killed. Though only two of Jacob's sons were mentioned, they might be assisted by the rest; at least, no doubt, they were attended with servants, who were aiding: in accomplishing this cruel and bloody attempt.{k} Mybak "dolore affecti", Pagninus, Schmidt, "essent in dolore", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius. {l} Pirke Eliezer, c. 29. {m} De fracturis, sect. 33. apud Scheuchzer. Physica Sacra, vol. 1. p. 93. {n} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 21. sect. 1. Genesis 34:26Ver. 26. And they slew Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword,.... Whom they had been just treating with in a seeming friendly manner: Shechem was the chief aggressor, and his crime was very heinous; but considering that he did all he could, after the fact was committed, to make recompence for the injury done, he deserved other treatment, at least mercy should have been shown him. Hamor, perhaps, was too indulgent to his son, connived at his sin, and did not punish him for it; and, it may be, approved of it, and now dies for it:and took Dinah out of Shechem's house, and went out; where she was kept from the time of her being ravished by Shechem, with an intention to marry her, could the consent of her parents and relations be obtained; for it does not appear that he kept her to carry on a criminal conversation with her, but a courtship in order to marriage. Genesis 34:27Ver. 27. The sons of Jacob came upon the slain,.... That is, the rest of them, as the Targum of Jonathan paraphrases it; understanding what their two brothers had done, they came and joined them, and partook of stripping the slain of their clothes, or from them what they found of any worth about them:and spoiled the city; plundered it of all its goods and substance, spoiled all the inhabitants of it of their wealth:because they had defiled their sister; one of them had done it, which is imputed to them all, they not restraining him from it, when it was in their power; and perhaps approving of it, and made a laugh of and jest at it; or however did not punish him for it. Genesis 34:28Ver. 28. They took their sheep, their oxen, and their asses,.... The Shechemites hoped to have the cattle and substance of Jacob's family, and in a hypocritical manner submitted to circumcision, for the sake of worldly advantage; for that, and pleasing their prince, seem to be the only views they had in it; wherefore, in this there is a just retaliation of them in Providence:and that which [was] in the city, and that which [was] in the field; the cattle that were kept at home, and those that were brought up in the field, all became a prey. Genesis 34:29Ver. 29. And all their wealth,.... Or "power" {o} or "strength"; every thing that made them mighty and powerful; their gold and silver, their jewels, and rich furniture of their houses, their arms and weapons of war, their goods and substance, in which they trafficked:and all their little ones and their wives took they captive: they spared the women and children, as was usual war, and in the plunder of towns and cities:and spoiled even all that [was] in the house; of Shechem or Hamor, or in any of the houses of the inhabitants; they rifled and plundered everyone, and took away whatsoever they found in them; but as Jacob disapproved of this unjust, cruel, bloody, and perfidious action, so no doubt, as he set the captives at liberty, he restored to them their cattle and substance.{o} Mlyx "siquidem" lyx "proprie potentia, robur", Drusius; so Ainsworth. Genesis 34:30Ver. 30. And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi,.... who were the principals concerned in this affair:ye have troubled me; because of the sin they had committed, because of the dishonour brought upon religion, and because of the danger he and his family were hereby exposed unto; it greatly disquieted him, made him very uneasy, he was at his wit's end almost, knew not what to do, what course to take to wipe off the scandal, and to defend himself and family; since it served, he says,to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land; to make him odious and abominable, to be hated and abhorred by all the people round about, and to be looked upon and treated as a deceitful, treacherous, and perfidious man, that had no regard to his word, to covenants and agreements made by him; as a cruel and bloodthirsty man that spared none, made no difference between the innocent and the guilty; and as a robber and plunderer, that stopped at nothing, committing the greatest outrages to get possession of the substance of others:amongst the Canaanites and the Perizzites: who were the principal inhabitants of the land, the most numerous, and the most rustic and barbarous, and perhaps nearest, and from whom Jacob had most to fear:and I [being] few in number; or men of number {p}; he and his sons and servants, in all, making but a small number in comparison of the nations about him:they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house; not that Jacob was afraid that this would be really the case, for he knew and believed the promises of God to him, of the multiplication of his seed, and of their inheriting the land of Canaan, and of the Messiah springing from him; but this he said to aggravate the sin and folly of his sons, in exposing him and themselves to so much danger, which not only on the face of things appeared probable, but even certain and inevitable, without the interposition of divine power and Providence.{p} rpom ytm "viri numeri", Montanus, Schmidt. Genesis 34:31Ver. 31. And they said,.... Simeon and Levi, in a very pert and unseemly manner:should he deal with our sister as with an harlot? make a whore of her, and then keep her in his house as such? is this to be borne with? or should we take no more notice of his behaviour to our sister, or show no more regard to her than if she was a common prostitute, whom no man will defend or protect? so say the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem,"nor let Shechem the son of Hamor mock at us, or boast and say, as an harlot whom no man seeks after, or no man seeks to avenge her; so it is done by Dinah the daughter of Jacob:''they tacitly insinuate as if Jacob had not that regard for the honour of his daughter and family, and showed his resentment at the wicked behaviour of Shechem, as he ought to have done. It is observed that there is a letter in the word for "harlot" greater than usual, which may either denote the greatness of the sin of Shechem in dealing with Dinah as an harlot, or the great impudence and boldness of Jacob's sons, in their answer to him, and their audaciousness in justifying such baseness and cruelty they had been guilty of. The whole of this history, as related in this chapter, is given by Polyhistor out of Theodotus the poet {q}.{q} Apud Euseb. Evangel. Praepar. l. 9. c. 22. p. 427, &c.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.